PLANS to close a York primary school and merge it with another look set to get the go-ahead.

A report due to go before City of York Council’s cabinet member for education, Coun Janet Looker, recommends closing Derwent School in Tang Hall and expanding nearby Osbaldwick Primary School.

If agreed on Wednesday, the decision would be followed by a six-week representation period, after which the council would consider all further views from parents and interested parties and decide whether to go ahead with the proposals.

York council wants to close the 100-pupil Derwent School following two well-attended public meetings and an open day where parents had the chance to see both schools.

In the report, school planning officer Claire McCormick said the proposed closure meant all 25 staff at Derwent School would be made redundant on the closure.

She said: “In order to mitigate potential redundancies, volunteers for redundancy would be sought first and then redeployment for as many staff as possible.

“The governing body of Osbaldwick School have given an undertaking to ring-fence any vacant posts there as a result of the expansion of their school, to those staff that have been identified as redundant due to the closure of Derwent.

“Other sources of redeployment will continue to be sought up until the date of closure.”

The Press previously reported that the decision by the head teacher at Derwent, Carole Torode, to take early retirement last Christmas had sparked a review into the future of the school, which has the most surplus places of any primary school in the city.

When Mrs Torode left the head at Osbaldwick, Lesley Barringer, became the executive head for both schools.

Some of the issues raised by parents during the consultation included concerns about how teaching quality would be maintained, both during and after the transition, what plans would be put in place to help the children through the disruption, and whether the current before and after-school clubs would be maintained.

Once the council has made a decision, the changes will to be made by September.